Missing You
by Serenarey Chiba
Summary: One never really knows what they have until it's truly gone. What lengths, though, would one truly go to in order to get what they lost, back? NaruSaku. One-Shot.


Something I felt the need to write, for some reason. It's short - first and only one-shot I've ever managed to do. And trust me, I wanted to expand this so much, but, I think it's better as is. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

"You want some coffee or something while you wait?"

"Hmm? No, I'm fine, thanks."

Haruno Sakura lightened the rejection with a small smile, her warm, leaf-green eyes landing on both of the patrolmen guarding the gate: Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu. The two chuunin frowned at the woman, causing her to edge away slightly. She raised an eyebrow in slight confusion, not exactly understanding why they were studying her so intently.

"Yes?" she asked hesitantly.

"Well, it's just," Izumo began, looking at Kotetsu with a side glance, "why are you here?"

Though she shouldn't have been surprised by the question, she couldn't help but be; and honestly, she supposed she had been expecting it, just a little. Sakura tilted her head, closing her eyes as she tried to come up with a suitable answer that was both plausible, and credible. Also, in complete honesty, she was rather surprised to find herself standing at Konohagakure's north gate waiting for someone she'd thought she'd never consider being attached to. Although, it wasn't as if she _had_ to be there, waiting for this person, but, she didn't want to be at the hospital taking care of paperwork, and she didn't want to have to be handing paperwork in to the Fifth Hokage, Senju Tsunade, and she didn't want to have to…

So, all right, she had plenty of things to avoid, and perhaps those could be counted as reasons – or excuses – as to why she was standing at the main gate, but…when she thought about it, those weren't why. Opening her eyes, she pushed up her shoulders in a shrug, a helpless smile on her face as she answered,

"I don't know. I just…am."

The two guards deadpanned at her, neither showing any form of emotion on their faces. Sakura chuckled lightly, and to ease her discomfort, bent down to begin showering the German Shepherd sitting next to the two with loving attention. Izumo sent Kotetsu one last glance before picking up a clipboard on the table behind him and looking down the list.

"Huh, that's strange. Apparently Namikaze Naruto's team's been delayed a few days due to Otogakure interference in a more desolate area due northeast from our present location – approximately 100 to 150 kilometers away."

He paused in his reading when he noticed Sakura stiffen slightly, her attentions to the dog wavering slightly, though she still scratched behind the dog's ears lightly. Continuing in his "report," he said, "It may also be noted that while the present Hyuuga Hinata and Rock Lee have managed to escape damage, Namikaze Naruto was not so lucky. According to the medical report," at which point Sakura stood up quickly and fixed him with an intense gaze, much to his discomfort, "he was left severely chakra depleted, and upon further inspection, carried a high-grade fever that left him unable to fight. The fever was due to a new poison the Otogakure developed recently which leads to high fever–"

"Give me that!" Sakura demanded, swiping the clipboard out of Izumo's hands and scrolling down the page. She paused a quarter way down however, before frowning and looking at the entire paper. "What is this?" she asked slowly, glancing at all the doodles, and crossword puzzles. "This doesn't appear to be a medical report."

"Well, Kotetsu and I decided to do some crosswords," Izumo quipped happily. "Job gets pretty boring out here at the gate. But, you know, if we'd known you were _so_ interested in Namikaze's whereabouts, we could have sent you a telegram!"

Sakura twitched slightly, as both the guards snickered. Clenching her teeth, she lifted her gaze up at the two slowly, her right eye twitching steadily. "Oh?"

"Sure, we do that kind of stuff," added in Kotetsu. "Cause, you know, we like keeping our village kunoichi nice and happy. Especially when they're all worried about their men and all."

When the two noticed the pink-haired woman's killer intent begin to rise, they turned simultaneously towards the gate, saluting. "Welcome back, Namikaze Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, and Rock Lee! We've been patiently awaiting your arrival!"

They snickered further when Sakura turned around quickly, with surprised eyes and flushed cheeks. The two burst out laughing when she turned to stare out at the empty road leading north from Konoha, and eventually fell down to the ground, laughing. She glared down at them, the muscles in her jaw twitching as she tried to reign in her embarrassment and anger. That was twice they had fooled her! Not just once, but _twice_! If she'd had a Doton jutsu in her arsenal, she definitely would have used it to dig herself a hole to jump into. Sighing, Sakura deflated slightly as she watched the two men settle down slightly, catching their breaths before they looked at her again, and fell back on the ground laughing, causing her ire to rise once again.

"Would you two cut it out already? It wasn't that funny!"

"Nah," Kotetsu managed out, through several coughs. "It was fucking hilarious."

Izumo rose to his feet, patting down the back of his pants as he grinned. "You know, you…"

Both the guards turned to stare at the entrance, eyes wide with disbelief. Sakura sighed as the two readied hand salutes and said, "Welcome back, Namikaze Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, and Rock Lee! We've been patiently awaiting your arrival!"

Sakura frowned at them, placing her hands on her hips. "Oh, come _off_ it, would you? That won't work on me twice."

When both men gave her a panicked glance, she felt her curiosity spark a little, and while still frowning, she turned to look at the entrance. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the object of her affections, Namikaze Naruto, standing right in front of her, only a couple meters away and walking closer.

"Na…Naruto!" she gasped.

The aforementioned man gave her a large grin as he walked in through the gate with his teammates, Hinata and Lee. Looking nothing except for slightly tired, he grinned at her, causing her heart to flutter a bit, and a flush of red to flow across her cheeks. Taking Sakura into his arms and looking down into her eyes – he was now a solid 198 centimeters, as opposed to her small frame of 160 cm – causing her to blush further. Naruto grinned even wider as he traced his thumb down Sakura's cheeks, and chuckled when she stiffened slightly.

"Did you miss me, Sakura-chan?" he murmured, allowing his deep voice to wash over her. She shifted out of his reach, face still red as she turned away. "D-don't get full of yourself, idiot. Why would I be here to see you? Like I missed you. As if."

Naruto blinked a few times, thoroughly confused. "Then…then why _were_ you here?"

"Like I said, it wasn't for you. I was just called to check up on the German Shepherd on duty," Sakura continued, her head still turned to avoid looking at the blond. "I'd heard she was suffering from slight hearing loss."

"Liar," Kotetsu whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Like we'd have a deaf dog on duty. Not much good that'd be."

Hinata sighed softly, shaking her head as Sakura stiffened and turned to glare at the two guards. "Shut up!"

"Oh, _please_!" Izumo said. "Like _that_ was going to fly. Hell, a _parakeet_ could've made a better excuse, and that bird's not considered one of the Futari."

She groaned slightly as Naruto's features brightened. The man turned to the other two men, a grin on his face. "So, so, Sakura-chan's here because…"

The two guardsmen nodded at each other before clasping their hands together and looking at Naruto with large eyes and happy smiles, which caused him to step back a few times.

"Naruto, I _missed_ you!" they chorused, giggling gently as they batted their eyelashes and swayed their hips. Izumo smiled shyly at Naruto, causing the latter to twitch. "I even waited here at the gate for three hours, waiting for your return," he said in a high-pitched voice.

Both Naruto and Sakura twitched, the former from fear and the latter from embarrassment and irritation. The two twitched more when Kotetsu blew Naruto a kiss before giggling. "I also couldn't help but blush and look away when you took me in your arms and caused my heart to _flutter_! Oh!" he gasped at the end, feigning a faint.

Much to her further humiliation, she heard Hinata let out a soft snort, to which she turned her head only to see a composed, but trembling Hyuuga Hinata. Hinata met her gaze, gave her a knowing smile, accompanied by a soft chuckle, and turned then to Lee. "We should probably leave the lovey-dovey couple alone. What say you?"

"Grand idea!" declared Lee, clenching his fist with enthusiasm. "It is best to allow Sakura-san time alone to be with Naruto-kun, for whom she stood waiting for three hours! Such strength of will and loyalty need be rewarded, and only Naruto-kun would be able to heighten her flames of youth in such a way that she would be further made into a woman! I believe that Sakura-san–!"

"Yes, yes," muttered Hinata as she pulled on his arm and walked away from the gate. Sakura, Naruto, Izumo, and Kotetsu watched silently as she pulled the green-clad man down the street, muttering, "_Why_ did I get him started? You'd think I'd learn by now…but _no_. Now he'll keep going for hours. Flames of youth…Neji-nii-san, I admire you _so_ much now…"

The four left at the gate stared after the other two before all three men glanced at Sakura, who pointedly looked away from them. Naruto rubbed the back of his head, chuckling. He grinned at Sakura. "Well, I guess I'll be on my way then. Have to deliver my report to the old lady."

Sakura turned to look at Naruto quickly as he said his goodbyes to the two chuunin and made his way around her. Spinning around, her right hand raced through the air to grab onto his left wrist tightly, as she forced her blush down. He looked back at her curiously, and she lost her fight against her embarrassment.

"…I missed you, Naruto."

He grinned again, chuckling. "I know. So, you coming with me to deliver my report?"

She looked at him with a shy smile, about to agree full-heartedly, when the two chuunin decided to mock her some more and simultaneously moaned, "Oh, _Naruto-kun_!"

Naruto laughed as Sakura spun around and leveled Izumo and Kotetsu with a death glare, her face bright red.

"Shut _up_!"

* * *

One Week Later

"So…how long you been with him?"

Sakura frowned as she looked at her best friend, Yamanaka Ino. "With him? I didn't even know I was into him until a few months ago."

"_Into_ him?" asked Ino incredulously. "Oh, please, Sakura. You've been _into_ the guy for years. You just didn't acknowledge it. Anyway, seriously. How long you been with him?"

"Ah, we've been going on dates for the past two months, or so."

Sakura reached up to reach for the salt on a higher shelf, frowning when she had to push herself off the counter to reach it. Ino watched her, bored as she watched the pink-haired woman smile happily after getting down the salt. Sighing, the blonde shook her head, causing her long, blonde hair to flip back and forth. "Two months, and you're sleeping with him?"

The blonde didn't bother to look up when she heard glass shatter against the tiled floor. A second later and Sakura was in her face, causing Ino to glance at the rosette and flick the latter's forehead. "Back, woman. I don't do girls, no matter what anyone thinks. Not that desperate, sorry."

Sakura glared at Ino, rubbing her forehead all the while. "_Sleeping_ with him?" she sputtered. "What makes you think I'm _sleeping_ with him?"

"You're in his house, for one," Ino began, holding up one finger.

"I'm making him dinner!"

"You're making him dinner, for two," Ino continued, flicking up a second finger.

Sakura stared at Ino in disbelief. "I can make dinner for him! He's due back from a mission any minute now!"

"You're keeping track of his ETA, for three," Ino said in a bored tone, holding up yet another finger. "Who keeps track of the exact _minutes_ of a person's ETA?"

"I wanted to make sure the dinner was ready for him at the right time!" Sakura protested indignantly. "Anyway, those _aren't_ good reasons as to why I'm _sleeping_ with him!"

"So you are?"

"What? I…_no_! What is _wrong _with you?"

"You keep emphasizing the word, 'sleeping'. Is that a word you can't seem to deal with, without blushing that is?"

Sakura gaped at her. "What? I…you know what? I'm not continuing this. Think what you wish," she said, turning her head as she went to go back into the kitchen. Ino sighed before smirking. "I kind of also found, like, a bazillion condoms in between the couch pillows."

Ino cackled inwardly as she heard an incredulous "What!", an ensuing loud _thump_, and a rampant amount of curses. Two seconds later, Sakura was out in the living room again, leaf-green eyes squinted with pain and irritation. "That…ugh. I _told_ him to put those in a more discreet place! God, damn it! Where the hell did you find them? God, when he comes back…"

"I guess the couch is your favorite place to do that kind of thing, huh?"

"Huh?" Sakura mumbled, still rubbing her head. "Oh, that, well, Naruto seems to think that brings out the best in me and…yeah…"

"Ah," Ino said, hoisting herself out of the couch quickly. "That was _far_ too much information for me to know…"

"So, where are the condoms?"

"You _do_ realize that I'm not exactly going to go around looking for _condoms_ of all things, right? Especially _Naruto's_?"

"Then…wait, what?" Sakura managed out weakly, eyes widening as her pain was forgotten.

Ino sighed, shaking her head. "So, how long?"

Sakura deflated quickly, letting her head fall. "…Seven weeks."

"And you're pregnant?"

"Three weeks…"

"Way…to…go," Ino said, drawing out each syllable. She turned to look at the door, and smirked at her friend. "Well, look's like Daddy's home right on time. That intel you've got in something else, Sakura. Well, I'll see you later, okay?"

Ino walked away from a now miserable Sakura, and patted the newly arrived Naruto on the shoulder as she walked out the door. "She's got a hell of a surprise for you, buddy. Check you later, huh?"

Naruto stared after Ino as she closed the door behind her, before slowly turning his gaze to look at Sakura. "A surprise?"

"Ah," Sakura began, hesitating slightly. "Dinner's ready!" she managed out, chuckling weakly. "Better get to it before it gets cold."

Naruto's features brightened, and he took off his jacket, throwing it on the couch. "Thanks, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura watched him move across the room with liquid grace, and allowed herself a small smile. "Ah, and Naruto?"

Naruto looked back, patiently waiting for whatever she was to say. Sakura began to speak, but caught herself. Instead, she gave him a warm smile. "I missed you, Naruto."

The man blinked at her in surprise, before grinning. "Thanks, good to be back! Now come on, let's eat!"

* * *

Three Months Later

Sakura handed a chart back to one of her assistant medic-nin, frowning as she looked down at the patient. Walking slowly up to the man gasping in the bed, she held up her hands in typical medical fashion, allowing a green substance to slowly slide down her arm and shimmer around her hands. Glancing at the two medic-nin standing at ready, she nodded. "Beginning medical analysis. Take note to whatever I say."

"Yes, Haruno-sama!" the two answered, a flush covering each of their faces.

Sakura forced herself not to roll her eyes. God, going around people staring at her with such expressions was very annoying. Being called a Futari even more so. Being gushed at for dating the _other_ Futari…well, now, that was just something for the entire _village_ to either complain or gossip excitedly about. Her thoughts on the matter: yeah, whatever.

Looking down as she pressed her glowing hands against the man's abdomen, she frowned deeper as her eyes narrowed. "Excuse me, sir," she managed out evenly, though she could feel her anger and ire begin to rise rapidly. "What did you say was wrong with you that needed such quick medical attention from the Head Medical-nin? Something that was so horrible and painful that only I could heal it?"

The man gasped and grabbed at the front of her blouse, which knocked her anger up to the pissed position. His blue eyes stared into her leaf-green ones, and he muttered, "I…I can't use the bathroom! I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't train! I can't do anything – it's hurts too much! Please heal me!"

Slapping the man's hand away, Sakura told him in a clipped tone, "You have _constipation_. I will have my assistants prescribe you some medicine. You'll be fine in three days providing you follow the instructions. I bid you good day."

Turning away from the groaning man, she walked up to her nurses, and frowned at them. "You," she said, looking pointedly at the closest nurse. "Prescribe him some medicine. And you," Sakura continued looking at the other available assistant. "Sign him out. I want him out of my hospital as quickly as possible. Now get on it."

The two nodded, bowing slightly as Sakura walked out of the room, the door slamming with enough force to break the glass. The two women stared at the door, each trembling slightly.

* * *

As soon as Sakura had turned the next corner, she slammed into something firm and hard, causing her to gasp and back up a few steps. Growing more irritated, she glared up at the offender, yelling, "Get out of the way!"

"Whoa, whoa!" said the offender. "Irritable much, Sakura-chan?"

She took a closer look at who had bumped into her and her eyes widened in surprise. "Naruto!"

The blond grinned, chuckling slightly. "Hey. Back from my last mission! Thought we'd go out to eat!"

Sakura smiled gently, chuckling herself. "Oh, I see, I see. Aren't you supposed to write a report, though?"

"Aw, don't be such a spoilsport! I'll do that later. Like, next week. The old lady will be ticked off, sure, but who cares? Me? Nah."

The two now dubbed as the Futari grinned, imagining Tsunade's expression when Naruto came in a week later with an important report. Holding his arm out, Sakura looked at it in surprise, and looked ready to take it, though she winced slightly moments later. Naruto looked at her with concern, but she waved him off.

"You may be able to skip out on work, but I've got a ton sitting on my desk. If Shizune-san sees that…"

"Oh, come on, Sakura-chan! You're a workaholic! That's a crime!"

"Since when?"

Naruto took a book out of his pocket, along with a pen, and scribbled something in it. Showing his scribbles to Sakura, who raised an eyebrow at the writing, he exclaimed, "Since now! No working! More eating and sleeping and sexing. Lots of sexing. But for now, walking, eating, talking. No working!"

"You're such a dork…" muttered Sakura. Naruto gasped, feigning horrification. "You know you'd miss me if I were gone, though!"

Sakura looked at him, an ache settling in her chest as she tried not to imagine a world without Naruto. "Yes, Naruto."

He looked at her, a frown on his face. "Huh?"

"I'd miss you."

* * *

Four Months Later

Sakura flipped back, dodging left quickly to avoid several kunai flying towards her. Her intense, leaf-green eyes followed her enemy as she raced forward, her fists already glowing blue. Uchiha Sasuke shifted out of her path, unsheathing his Kusanagi sword and racing towards an irate Sakura. Forcing herself to ignore the shifting ball of life within her, she forced chakra to her feet and pushed against the earth, flying high into the air. Not missing a step, Sasuke followed her, soaring into the air with his Kusanagi in hand. As he raised it to slice her in half, Sakura quickly charged up her lover's jutsu, letting a ball of highly condensed energy swirl quickly in her right hand. Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly.

"The Rasengan. He taught it to you, huh?"

"It wasn't exactly very difficult," Sakura said softly, her eyes cold and unyielding. Forcing chakra out of her body to spiral her in a counterclockwise position, she let her momentum carry the Rasengan towards the Uchiha. Abandoning his sword, Sasuke quickly charged up his own Chidori, pushing it to reach Sakura's Rasengan. Almost at the point of meeting his Chidori, Sakura gritted her teeth, muttering,

"Katon: Rasen_gan_!"

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as Sakura's round, blue Rasengan burst into rotating flames, quickly expanding between the two of them until it became more ovular in shape. The amplified Rasengan quickly overpowered his own Chidori and went racing past his hand. _Damn it_, he thought, searching for some kind of plan to throw his ex-teammate's attack off course. At such a close proximity, though, all the traitor could do was yell out in pain as the fiery Rasengan ate at his skin and innards.

Still moving with her same momentum, Sakura allowed herself one more full rotation in the air before slamming her clenched fist into Sasuke's face. A fiery pain ran through her body, centering around her abdomen, much to her distress. A choked cry escaped her as she fell from the air, and blood fell from her lips. Hitting the ground on both feet, Sakura gritted her teeth as more pain struck her body and she slowly raised her gaze to look at the dead Uchiha lying some feet away.

"It…was that…easy?" she gasped out, blood starting to flow from her mouth at a constant rate. _Shit_, she thought, falling to her knees as she tried gasping for breath. At this rate, she was going to…

* * *

Sakura's eyes opened slightly, and she found herself in a very white room, both Tsunade and Shizune looking down at her, beads of sweat sliding down their faces. Sakura tried to speak, but could only groan in pain instead. Tsunade's golden-brown gaze switched to her, relief visible in her features.

"Don't try to talk, Sakura. You were critically damaged."

"My…baby…?" Sakura forced out, fear striking her harder than her pain ever could. Tsunade's quick stricken look told her all she needed to know, and Sakura groaned. Closing her eyes, she found she was so drained, she couldn't even cry when she needed to the most.

"Tsu…nade…shishou…"

The golden-brown eyes steadied on her again, panic beginning to surface in them.

"Stop talking, I said! I can't heal you if you don't conserve your energy!"

Sakura allowed herself a small grin. _Big words_, she thought, _but I know that if you haven't healed me by now, it's because you couldn't, not because of energy conservation. Just…damn it, I wish I'd told him…_

"Tell…Na…ru…to, that…I…missed…him…"

"Sakura! Don't you dare die on me! Sakura!"

Sakura forced one more smile to her lips before her eyes closed.

* * *

Naruto raced towards the village quickly, Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, and Yamanaka Ino right behind him. Jumping from branch to branch, Naruto propelled himself forward, cornflower-blue eyes wide with fear and apprehension.

Earlier, as the four were making their way back to village at a normal pace, they were surprised to see a messenger falcon screeching towards them. Naruto had stopped and watched as the falcon had circled around and landed on his shoulder. Curious, he had taken the letter from the bird's talons, and opened it, with his teammates reading it over his shoulder:

"To Team Three and One: A recent attack has been made upon the village by Otogakure's leader, Uchiha Sasuke. Luckily, Haruno Sakura was able to repel the attack by the Uchiha and kill him. The village has undertaken severe damage, and Haruno Sakura is considered to be in critical condition. First priority upon return to the village will be the assistance of eradicating any leftover enemies, and securing a sound foundation of defense."

After reading the letter, the four had quickly taken to the trees, racing for the village, which was what they were currently still doing. Ino turned gaze from the path ahead to the blonde her left. His expression was neutral, though she could see the hatred, pain, and worry swirling in his eyes. Upon sight of Konoha's gates, the four simultaneously sped up and dashed from the branches of the trees to the dirt road, and on into the village. Upon entrance of the village, Naruto branched off from the other two and raced towards the hospital, before he was quickly surrounded by three ninja from Oto. Narrowing his eyes, he yelled out,

"Get the _fuck_ out of my _fucking_ way!"

Five clones appeared next to him, racing for the enemy and crushing them quickly as the original continued racing towards the hospital. Dropping from a house roof and spiraling to the ground, Naruto grabbed the hand of an Oto-nin and slammed his fist into the other woman's face. The woman went soaring backwards, though Naruto couldn't relax as he pulled out three kunai and slammed them into another Oto-nin behind him. Flipping around to hit the ground, Naruto flipped backwards, shouting as he went through a set of seals,

"Fuuton: _Tatsumaki_!"

With Naruto at the center, a swirl of wind raced around him, expanding to quickly engulf the five ninja that had raced towards him. The spiral of wind raced high into the air, roaring alongside the many screams ringing through the air. Gasping, Naruto breathed in and out hard, the tornado jutsu having taken a lot out of him. Five bodies dropped from the air to land on the ground, nothing but bloody corpses. Forcing himself to stand straight, he continued racing towards the hospital.

Minutes later, he was running down the hospital hallways, his ninja sandals clacking on the tile as he went. Soaring up stairs and finally reaching the eighth floor, Naruto breathed in and out quickly, eyes wild as he looked back and forth. Upon spotting Senju Tsunade, Shizune, and several other medic-nin coming out of a hospital room, he raced up to them, apprehensive but baring a hopeful smile.

He felt his heart plummet when Tsunade couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes. Staring at her, his grin wobbled somewhat.

"Tsu-…Tsunade-baa-chan?"

She lifted her gaze to look at him, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at him. "I tried all I could, Naruto… We all did."

"No…"

"Hold on," Tsunade added quietly, frowning as she again averted her gaze. "There are a couple of things I'm sure Sakura would have wanted you to know."

Naruto could already feel himself begin to unravel, but he forced himself to hold it together, at least until Tsunade had told him Sakura's messages.

"Firstly," Tsunade began, "Sakura was pregnant, Naruto. Nearly eight months along."

Naruto's blood drained from his face, and he staggered backwards, eyes wide as he thought over what she had said. "Why…why was she fighting?"

"The village was in complete disarray, no more so than now, I suppose. She felt it her duty to help protect her village. Though she was pregnant, she was also a kunoichi of Konohagakure. That's a pride she couldn't throw away, and especially not to that of a traitor."

The blond vessel looked down, chuckling slightly. "She…always was really prideful…"

Tsunade looked down Naruto, watching as his frame shrunk more and more. "The last thing…"

He looked up at her, eyes filled with tears.

"She told me to say, 'I miss you.'"

Naruto continued to stare up at her, tears flowing freely down his face before he looked down, feeling something inside him begin to tear.

His screams could be heard across the entire village.

* * *

Two Years Later

Namikaze Naruto drew in the last stroke for his seal, frowning as he glared down at the entire whole of it. Clenching his fists, he looked down at the jeweled, solid gold wristband Sakura had bought him only four months into their relationship. Letting his finger guide down the relic, he gritted his teeth, and brought a finger to his mouth. Cutting into his thumb with his teeth, he marked over his seal with more characters with his blood. As soon as the last blood character was drawn, Naruto winced as a light flashed in front of his eyes.

* * *

Two Years, Eight Months Before

"Welcome back, Namikaze Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata, and Rock Lee! We've been patiently awaiting your arrival!"

"Oh, come _off_ it, would you? That won't work on me twice."

Naruto opened his eyes to look at the young woman standing in front of him, her short, pink hair held up in a ponytail as she frowned at the two chuunin. Seconds later, he watched as she turned her gaze over to look at him, a frown on her face before her eyes widened.

"Na…Naruto?"

Naruto walked towards her quickly, forgetting everyone and everything else in his rush to get to her. Taking her into his arms, he searched her eyes, tenderly touching his right thumb to her cheek and stroking it softly.

"Did you miss me?" he murmured, continuing to look at her intently. "Please say you missed me…"

"Naruto?" she asked, a worried tone accompanying her words. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just…" He breathed in deeply, before letting it go once more. "Just…please."

Though Sakura didn't know what was going on, she allowed a small smile to grace her lips as she looked up at him.

"I missed you, Naruto."

Naruto grinned shakily, tears beginning to fall down his cheeks as he continue to smile, despite her alarmed expression.

"I missed you, too, Sakura-chan."

* * *

Completed - 6/30/2008 10:14:41 AM

Katon: Rasengan – Fire Release: Spiraling Sphere  
Chidori – One Thousand Birds  
Fuuton: Tatsumaki – Wind Release: Tornado

* * *

So that's that. Did you guys enjoy it? I know, not a lot of action, but, hey. I guess it's meant to be Romantic, in a way? I don't know.


End file.
